Let's Not Worry About Tomorrow (Ron/Leslie)
Title: Let's Not Worry About Tomorrow
For: The Alphabet Meme
Fandom: Parks and Recreation
Pairing: Ron/Leslie
Prompt: F is for Future Husband. (For dollsome.)
Word Count: 694
Rating: PG
Summary: "No, I'm not having cold feet..."
Disclaimer: Not mine. Don't sue!
*
Leslie's smile into the camera is an uneasy one, and her eyes are open a bit too wide.
"No, I'm not having cold feet. I don't have cold feet at all. I'm great. I'm looking forward to getting married. I'm excited. So what if he's been married twice before? So what if he hates both his ex-wives? My name isn't Tammy, so case closed."
She dusts off her hands.
"No problem. Case closed." She nods. "I already said that."
*
Ann nods. "Yeah, Leslie is kind of freaking out."
*
Ron's face is expressionless. "I don't know what you're talking about."
*
"I'm ready to be married. Not nervous at all." Leslie pauses. "What? I'm not sweating. There's a leak in the ceiling." She shakes her head. "That's a lie. The lights are hot today. That is what's happening."
*
"Fine. I know what you're talking about," Ron admits, "but I'm not going to discuss it."
*
She and Ron are having dinner. They're not talking, and she's certain this is the most tense he's ever seemed while eating from a plate which features a good helping of bacon. Also, she believes she's never seen him eat bacon so slowly before. And when he puts down the piece that's currently between his fingers without taking a bite, she knows something serious will come out of his mouth. She also knows what the topic will be.
"You aren't under any legal or moral obligation to marry me."
She'd argue that she is under a *moral* obligation, especially since the wedding -- quiet, and to be performed in City Hall -- is supposed to happen in a week, but she doesn't want him to think she's marrying him because she feels *forced* into it. That is not going to help their relationship. And it's not true. It would be *so* easy to walk away if she felt forced into it, actually, since an arranged marriage would go against her natural desire for autonomy. "I want to marry you," she says. "I... what I don't want to do is divorce you."
He doesn't respond right away. "You're also under no obligation to divorce me."
"What I'm saying is that I don't want this... I don't want this to go bad. I don't want to be an ex-wife you hate. I don't want to be a Tammy."
"In order to be a Tammy, you'd have to rip out your soul and replace it with a dark, gaping hole which collects anything resembling human decency and murders it in order to fuel its quest to rob, from the air around it, anything resembling happiness."
There was a time when Leslie was kind of impressed -- though begrudgingly -- by Ron's ability to find creative ways to say, 'I hate my ex'; that time is over. "See? That's what I'm afraid of! One minute we're happy, then the next you could be ranting about my gaping hole--"
"You *aren't* a beast from hell, Leslie. You should accept that."
"But that doesn't mean you're not going to end up hating me."
He leans forward. "I've hated many people in my life--"
"I've noticed. No offense, by the way."
"None taken. And though I've hated many people, I've never, though you believe government is a tool for good and, even worse, that its power should be expanded, come close to hating you. You're the least hateable person I've ever met, and I can't see myself changing that opinion." He nods. "That's why I want to marry you."
Weirdly -- or appropriately, she's not sure -- that makes her feel better. She smiles slightly. "And... you love me, right? That's part of it, too."
"I assumed you were already aware of that."
"I am. Yeah... I am." She pauses. "I really want to marry you. So I'm going to marry you." She lets out a breath. "And I'll probably freak out again, but you have to keep in mind that I want to marry you."
"I will."
They return to their food. She steals a piece of bacon off his plate. He doesn't complain; her smile widens.
END
For: The Alphabet Meme
Fandom: Parks and Recreation
Pairing: Ron/Leslie
Prompt: F is for Future Husband. (For dollsome.)
Word Count: 694
Rating: PG
Summary: "No, I'm not having cold feet..."
Disclaimer: Not mine. Don't sue!
*
Leslie's smile into the camera is an uneasy one, and her eyes are open a bit too wide.
"No, I'm not having cold feet. I don't have cold feet at all. I'm great. I'm looking forward to getting married. I'm excited. So what if he's been married twice before? So what if he hates both his ex-wives? My name isn't Tammy, so case closed."
She dusts off her hands.
"No problem. Case closed." She nods. "I already said that."
*
Ann nods. "Yeah, Leslie is kind of freaking out."
*
Ron's face is expressionless. "I don't know what you're talking about."
*
"I'm ready to be married. Not nervous at all." Leslie pauses. "What? I'm not sweating. There's a leak in the ceiling." She shakes her head. "That's a lie. The lights are hot today. That is what's happening."
*
"Fine. I know what you're talking about," Ron admits, "but I'm not going to discuss it."
*
She and Ron are having dinner. They're not talking, and she's certain this is the most tense he's ever seemed while eating from a plate which features a good helping of bacon. Also, she believes she's never seen him eat bacon so slowly before. And when he puts down the piece that's currently between his fingers without taking a bite, she knows something serious will come out of his mouth. She also knows what the topic will be.
"You aren't under any legal or moral obligation to marry me."
She'd argue that she is under a *moral* obligation, especially since the wedding -- quiet, and to be performed in City Hall -- is supposed to happen in a week, but she doesn't want him to think she's marrying him because she feels *forced* into it. That is not going to help their relationship. And it's not true. It would be *so* easy to walk away if she felt forced into it, actually, since an arranged marriage would go against her natural desire for autonomy. "I want to marry you," she says. "I... what I don't want to do is divorce you."
He doesn't respond right away. "You're also under no obligation to divorce me."
"What I'm saying is that I don't want this... I don't want this to go bad. I don't want to be an ex-wife you hate. I don't want to be a Tammy."
"In order to be a Tammy, you'd have to rip out your soul and replace it with a dark, gaping hole which collects anything resembling human decency and murders it in order to fuel its quest to rob, from the air around it, anything resembling happiness."
There was a time when Leslie was kind of impressed -- though begrudgingly -- by Ron's ability to find creative ways to say, 'I hate my ex'; that time is over. "See? That's what I'm afraid of! One minute we're happy, then the next you could be ranting about my gaping hole--"
"You *aren't* a beast from hell, Leslie. You should accept that."
"But that doesn't mean you're not going to end up hating me."
He leans forward. "I've hated many people in my life--"
"I've noticed. No offense, by the way."
"None taken. And though I've hated many people, I've never, though you believe government is a tool for good and, even worse, that its power should be expanded, come close to hating you. You're the least hateable person I've ever met, and I can't see myself changing that opinion." He nods. "That's why I want to marry you."
Weirdly -- or appropriately, she's not sure -- that makes her feel better. She smiles slightly. "And... you love me, right? That's part of it, too."
"I assumed you were already aware of that."
"I am. Yeah... I am." She pauses. "I really want to marry you. So I'm going to marry you." She lets out a breath. "And I'll probably freak out again, but you have to keep in mind that I want to marry you."
"I will."
They return to their food. She steals a piece of bacon off his plate. He doesn't complain; her smile widens.
END